If you’ve been watching the news and are horrified, like I am, about all these data breaches – most recently Equifax’s hack exposing data of over 140 million Americans; you may be wondering what you can do to protect yourself. I’ve been looking into it for myself and thought I’d share with you what I’ve

Consider this, you’ve come to your target retirement age, have raised your children, paid for college and weddings, worked tirelessly, saved endlessly and now you’re looking forward to finally kicking back and enjoying life in your golden years. Except there’s a problem: you don’t have enough savings and retirement income to support the lifestyle you

As the summer peak homebuying season winds down, now may be a great time to consider buying a home, especially if you have been waiting on the sidelines during this super-busy summer season. Here’s an update on the housing market here in California and our outlook for fall. First, let me note that mortgage rates

Wow, it’s been a hot summer! Right?! Even though we’re enjoying a little break, you and I both know that more hot days are sure to be right around the corner. And with them come the rolling blackouts and the sky-high energy bills. We hear about it in the news all the time to conserve,

Last week while many of us were playing hooky and taking some time off for summer vacation combined with the Fourth of July holiday, the bond market was working overtime and rates rose more than they have since March of this year. Now, don’t get me wrong, rates are still great but they did trend

One of the questions I hear from clients most often is ‘how can I get a lower rate on my mortgage?’ It’s a great question and one of the most important ones to ask before you sign on for a long-term mortgage. The good news here is that there are numerous ways that you can

Oftentimes when attempting to buy a condo, we can have issues with the purchase if there are any litigation, lawsuits, or HOA issues that the property is involved with, until now. Because of changes in guidelines, we are now able to have some more leeway when it comes to getting a mortgage approved, as long

Raise your hand if you are still paying off your student loan…most of us have hands raised…71%, in fact graduated from college with student loan debt and many are still paying it off. Last week I posted briefly on Twitter and Facebook – which I’d love you to follow me if you’re not already –

How are you doing saving that down payment for your home purchase? A recent study posted by Zillow reported that saving for a down payment as the largest obstacle for renters wanting to buy a home. And here in Southern California, with high rents and high cost of living it’s even more difficult! So, although

Since my last post in mid-March we’ve seen some interesting developments in the mortgage market, namely that since the Fed raised its key interest rate, mortgage rates actually improved some, dropping to the lowest levels all month. It was certainly a nice gift! Let’s recap what’s been happening. So, back on March 15th the Federal